Europe Testing Prototype Mini-Shuttle

The European Space Agency is developing its first spaceship designed to return back through Earth’s atmosphere, a key technology for flying and returning not only experiments, but perhaps eventually people as well.

The first step of the project is called the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle, or IXV for short. On Wednesday, a full-scale mockup was dropped from a helicopter flying 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) above the Mediterranean Sea near Sardinia, Italy, to test its flight handling and parachute system.

“Its the first time in Europe that we’ve tried something like this,” Provera told Discovery News.

The vehicles are similar, but smaller, than the U.S. military’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicles, one of which is currently in orbit.

“The idea of the two vehicles is very similar, but the size and the costs of the projects are very different,” Provera said.

In total, the demonstration programs are expected to cost about $560 million.

The IXV spaceplane weighs about 3,970 pounds (1,800 kilograms) and is about 14.4 feet long (4.4 meters) and about 7.2 feet wide (2.2 meters). It is called a “lifting body” because its shape generates lift without wings.

To control its flight, the IXV will have thrusters and two moveable rear body flaps. By comparison, the X-37B vehicles weigh about 11,000 pounds (almost 5,000 kg) and are about 29 feet (9 meters) long.